Cern | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/science/cern
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 03 Mar 2015 19:53:03 GMT2015-03-03T19:53:03Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
What goes on inside a proton? | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physicshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/21/what-goes-on-inside-a-proton
<p>Quarks and gluons make weird slopes and shapes inside the proton. Understanding them precisely was important for the first results from Cern’s Large Hadron Collider, and continues to be so as we approach the restart over the next few weeks<br></p><p>I spent part of last week at a meeting in the Pyrenees, northern Spain, discussing the internal structure of the proton. The meeting was in the small village of Benasque, hosted by Juan Rojo at the <a href="http://benasque.org/">Centro de Ciencias de Benasque Pedro Pascual</a>. </p><p>The proton (<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2011/mar/26/1">my favourite particle</a>) is the nucleus of a hydrogren atom, is useful for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/aug/31/ashya-king-physics-of-proton-therapy">curing some cancers</a>, and is the particle collided by the Large Hadron Collider as it extends the frontiers of our knowledge of the structure of matter. Protons are made of two up-quarks and a down-quark, but there is quite a lot more than that to discover about their internal structure.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/21/what-goes-on-inside-a-proton">Continue reading...</a>SciencePhysicsParticle physicsCernSat, 21 Feb 2015 14:50:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/21/what-goes-on-inside-a-protonPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthA pointlike protonPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthA pointlike protonPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthThree quarksPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthThree quarksPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthThree quarks confined a protonPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthThree quarks confined a protonPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthThree quarks in a proton, emitting gluonsPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthThree quarks in a proton, emitting gluonsPhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthSlopes and shapes in BenasquePhotograph: JMB/Jon ButterworthSlopes and shapes in BenasqueJon Butterworth2015-02-21T14:50:44ZSir Tim Berners-Lee: how the web went from idea to realityhttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2015/feb/19/tim-berners-lee-web-idea-reality1
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, discusses his early career at CERN and how the web evolved from its initial concept. <br /><br />Watch the full interview with Sir Tim in our <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/ng-interactive/2015/jan/23/where-i-went-right-interactive">'Where I Went Right' video interactive</a>, which also features three more films exploring the formative moments in the illustrious careers of adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, anatomist Alice Roberts and space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2015/feb/19/tim-berners-lee-web-idea-reality1">Continue reading...</a>Tim Berners-LeeWeb 2.0InternetScienceTechnologyCernThu, 19 Feb 2015 17:16:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2015/feb/19/tim-berners-lee-web-idea-reality1Public domainSir Tim Berners-LeeGuardian Staff2015-02-19T17:16:08ZDark Matter: an Axion to grind? | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physicshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/15/dark-matter-an-axion-to-grind
<p>Dark matter is high on the list of possible discoveries in the next run of Cern’s Large Hadron Collider. However, depending on what dark matter actually is, shining light through walls might get there first<br></p><p>I’m reading Philip Pullman’s trilogy, <em>His Dark Materials</em>, to my daughter, and am again enthralled by its unflinching brutality, total tenderness, and the key role played by dark matter – dust – in his cosmology. The Oxford physics scenes in The Subtle Knife remind me of my time there, starting work on the Hera (Hadron-electron ring accelerator) electron-proton collider and watching some fellow students get into the even-more-peculiar business of using very sensitive underground detectors to go dark matter hunting. <br /></p><p>In a sense, I’m in the same game now. One of the more exciting possibilities at Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider (Coming soon. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/08/large-hadron-collider-are-you-ready-for-run-2">Are you ready for it?</a>) is that we might be lucky enough to produce dark matter particles in our collisions. Dark matter is needed to explain a number of astrophysical observations, ranging from the way galaxies rotate to the temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background. And it doesn’t seem to be made of any of the Standard Model particles we know about.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/15/dark-matter-an-axion-to-grind">Continue reading...</a>ScienceParticle physicsCernPhysicsAstronomyUniversity of NottinghamPhilip PullmanSun, 15 Feb 2015 08:05:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/15/dark-matter-an-axion-to-grindPhotograph: PeriodicVideos/Sixty SymbolsAxion going through a wall.Photograph: PeriodicVideos/Sixty SymbolsAxion going through a wall.Jon Butterworth2015-02-15T08:05:21ZLarge Hadron Collider Quiz: Are you ready for Run 2?http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/08/large-hadron-collider-are-you-ready-for-run-2
<p>CERN will restart its physics rollercoaster in May, at higher energies than ever before. But are you ready for it? Have you learned the lessons of Run 1? What the hell is that thing in the picture? Take this quiz to find out!<br></p><p>a) A strike by French power workers</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/08/large-hadron-collider-are-you-ready-for-run-2">Continue reading...</a>SciencePhysicsParticle physicsHiggs bosonCernSun, 08 Feb 2015 08:57:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/feb/08/large-hadron-collider-are-you-ready-for-run-2Photograph: Heinz Pernegger/AtlasInstallation of the ATLAS Insertable B-LayerPhotograph: Heinz Pernegger/AtlasInstallation of the ATLAS Insertable B-LayerPhotograph: Murdo Macleod/Murdo MacleodProfessor Peter HiggsPhotograph: Murdo Macleod/Murdo MacleodProfessor Peter HiggsPhotograph: Jon Butterworth & Alpine Kat/JMB & CERNHalf of this picture is from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM">the LHC rap</a>Photograph: Jon Butterworth & Alpine Kat/JMB & CERNHalf of this picture is from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM">the LHC rap</a>Photograph: Gerhard Brandt/Gerhard BrandtMystery objectPhotograph: Gerhard Brandt/Gerhard BrandtMystery objectJon Butterworth2015-02-08T08:57:36ZLarge Hadron Collider: Cern scientists prepare for second run of particle accelerator – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2015/feb/03/large-hadron-collider-cern-scientists-second-run-particle-accelerator-video
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research is preparing for a second run of the Large Hadron Collider in early March. After a two-year hiatus, the particle accelerator will have another go at unravelling the mysteries of the cosmos, following its discovery of the Higgs boson particle. Located in Cern, Switzerland, the Large Hadron Collider is 16.8 miles in circumference and buried more than 50 metres underground. It cost around £4.4bn <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2015/feb/03/large-hadron-collider-cern-scientists-second-run-particle-accelerator-video">Continue reading...</a>CernSwitzerlandScienceEuropeWorld newsTue, 03 Feb 2015 15:23:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2015/feb/03/large-hadron-collider-cern-scientists-second-run-particle-accelerator-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for FEBRUARY 2015 Agency News JoshGuardian Staff2015-02-03T15:23:16ZLife & Physics in pictures - No. 3http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/gallery/2015/jan/24/life-physics-in-pictures-no-3
<p>Not much time to write this weekend, but here are some more Life-and-Physics-related snaps, at least some of which may be “quite interesting”, as Stephen Fry might put it<br></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/gallery/2015/jan/24/life-physics-in-pictures-no-3">Continue reading...</a>SciencePhysicsCernParticle physicsLegoRoyal Shakespeare CompanySat, 24 Jan 2015 12:48:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/gallery/2015/jan/24/life-physics-in-pictures-no-3Photograph: Jon Butterworth/Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in AmsterdamPhotograph: Jon Butterworth/Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in AmsterdamJon Butterworth2015-01-24T12:48:57ZA Selfish turn around CERN | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physicshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/jan/17/a-selfish-turn-around-cern
<p>Author Will Self orbits the 27km circumference of the CERN Large Hadron Collider, and turns the French countyside into Dulston, albeit with occasional flashes of fun<br></p><p>Sometime in the mid-1990’s, Akram Khan tried to infect me with a love of opera. We were working at ZEUS, a particle physics experiment in Hamburg. I was a postdoc working for Penn State University, and Akram was a PhD student at UCL (which, a couple of years later, would appoint me as a lecturer). Akram’s enthusiasm was infectious enough to persuade me to accompany him to a performance of, if memory serves, an opera based on Goethe’s “Sorrows of Young Werther”. The fact that Hamburgischer Staatsoper tickets included bus fare helped. </p><p>Unfortunately the infection didn’t take, and it may even have innoculated me against opera. I vaguely remember a couple of hours of dark frustration, and a total incomprehension only partly down to my rudimentary command of German. I don’t remember any music, but there must have been some. The blame for this, if blame attaches, probably lies with a poor choice of first opera and a lack of genuine engagement on my part. <br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/jan/17/a-selfish-turn-around-cern">Continue reading...</a>PhysicsCernRadio 4BBCParticle physicsWill SelfSciencePhilosophyBrunel UniversitySat, 17 Jan 2015 15:42:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/jan/17/a-selfish-turn-around-cernPhotograph: Jon Butterworth/JMBCERN sunflowersPhotograph: Jon Butterworth/JMBCERN sunflowersJon Butterworth2015-01-17T15:42:01ZThe week in radio: Self Orbits Cern; This American Lifehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/11/week-in-radio-this-american-life-self-orbits-cern
Will Self got all riled and emotional around the Large Hadron Collider, while childhood bullies came back to haunt Jon Ronson<p><strong>Self Orbits Cern</strong> (Radio 4) | <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xxvtb/episodes/guide" title="">iPlayer</a></p><p><strong>This American Life</strong> (<a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/314/its-never-over" title="">thisamericanlife.org</a>)</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/11/week-in-radio-this-american-life-self-orbits-cern">Continue reading...</a>RadioTelevision & radioWill SelfCultureCernGraham LinehanSun, 11 Jan 2015 07:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/11/week-in-radio-this-american-life-self-orbits-cernPhotograph: BBCWill Self at Cern: ‘He was not impressed.’ Photograph: BBCPhotograph: BBCWill Self at Cern: ‘He was not impressed.’ Photograph: BBCMiranda Sawyer2015-01-11T07:00:09ZThis is not a measurement | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physicshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/jan/10/this-is-not-a-measurement
<p>“<a href="http://birthofidea.ist.utl.pt/">The birth of an idea</a>” solicits vignettes where scientists describe a special moment in their professional lives, or the genesis of an idea which they still cherish. Contributors include Stephen Hawking, colleagues from the Large Hadron Collider, and many from other areas of science. I was asked to contribute too, so here it is<br></p><p>In the mid 1990s, we were studying electron-proton collisions at the <a href="http://www.desy.de/research/facilities__projects/hera/index_eng.html">HERA collider</a>, in Hamburg. I was a postdoc, just finished with my doctoral research, and I was interested in the quarks and gluons produced in the collisions at HERA. We were trying to measure them.</p><p>Quarks and gluons are “confined”, which means they don’t directly appear in particle detectors. What we do see is a spray, or “jet” of other particles, called hadrons, which contain quarks and gluons. We were using sophisticated computer programs called Monte Carlo generators to “correct” the measured jets, so we could produce measurements of quarks and gluons.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/jan/10/this-is-not-a-measurement">Continue reading...</a>SciencePhysicsParticle physicsCernSat, 10 Jan 2015 12:11:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2015/jan/10/this-is-not-a-measurementPhotograph: Jon Butterworth/Jon ButterworthCeci n’est pas un gluon. The springy line is how gluons are represented in Feynman diagrams. This is one way we don’t measure themPhotograph: Jon Butterworth/Jon ButterworthCeci n’est pas un gluon. The springy line is how gluons are represented in Feynman diagrams. This is one way we don’t measure themJon Butterworth2015-01-10T12:11:03ZThe Large Hadron Collider sets its sights on dark matterhttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/04/large-hadron-collider-refit-dark-matter
After finding the Higgs boson, the LHC has had a refit to enable it to operate at even greater extremes – and to solve more questions about the beginnings of the universe<p>There is no shortage of superlatives that can be applied to the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, though many are strange and unusual. For a start, the huge underground device, which batters beams of protons into each other at colossal energies, can fairly claim to be the coolest place on Earth. Bending protons as they hurtle round the LHC’s circular 27km tunnel turns out to be a chilly business.</p><p>Thousands of huge magnets are needed to control the beams and these have to work with complete efficiency. To achieve this, the device is refrigerated to two degrees above absolute zero on the thermodynamic temperature scale: -271C, a temperature at which electric currents flow without resistance. In this way, the collider’s magnets can work to their maximum potential.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/04/large-hadron-collider-refit-dark-matter">Continue reading...</a>CernParticle physicsPhysicsScienceSun, 04 Jan 2015 07:30:15 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/04/large-hadron-collider-refit-dark-matterPhotograph: PRWork under way on the LHC at Cern.Photograph: PRWork under way on the LHC at Cern.Robin McKie2015-01-04T07:30:15ZProgress report from CERN | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physicshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/dec/13/progress-report-from-cern
<p>Another end-of-year report from CERN. No new collisions yet, but lots of progress<br></p><p>I made it back from CERN last night, despite the “problem with radar” over London, as the attendant in the Swiss lounge had it. (<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/12/heathrow-london-air-space-closed-computer-failure">It turns out</a> a computer failed rather than the radar itself.) I was lucky - some of my colleagues had flights cancelled, and were rebooked for this morning.</p><p>Much of the CERN council meeting I was there for was quite draining. It puzzles me why, since most of the time all I do is sit there and listen (often on the back row, since I am generally not the delegate, just an advisor). I think it must be like fielding in cricket. Often no intervention is needed, but you have to stay alert in case something comes your way at speed.</p><p>We have unfinished business with understanding the universe. <br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/dec/13/progress-report-from-cern">Continue reading...</a>SciencePhysicsCernHiggs bosonParticle physicsSat, 13 Dec 2014 13:39:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/dec/13/progress-report-from-cernPhotograph: Maximilien Brice/CERNFabiola Gianotti (left) and President of CERN Council Agnieszka Zalewska sign Gianotti’s contract as the next Director-General of CERN. Gianotti’s five-year mandate will start on 1 January 2016.Photograph: Maximilien Brice/CERNFabiola Gianotti (left) and President of CERN Council Agnieszka Zalewska sign Gianotti’s contract as the next Director-General of CERN. Gianotti’s five-year mandate will start on 1 January 2016.Photograph: Ben Gilliland/STFCHiggs - what next?Photograph: Ben Gilliland/STFCHiggs - what next?Jon Butterworth2014-12-13T13:39:08ZSizing up a new particle accelerator, and the 'cosmic stupid' limit | Jon Butterworth | Life&Physicshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/nov/22/sizing-up-a-new-particle-accelerator-and-the-cosmic-stupid-limit
<p>Even if you assume you have the technology and the money to do it, how big should any successor to CERN’s Large Hadron Collider be? Physicists are trying to work it out<br> </p><p>Somehow, you have to like <a href="http://arxiv-web3.library.cornell.edu/abs/1411.5633v1">a paper</a> which contains the phrase</p><p>Now, let us assume that the effective cross section for the inelastic scattering of two cosmic rays is of the size of the Universe. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/nov/22/sizing-up-a-new-particle-accelerator-and-the-cosmic-stupid-limit">Continue reading...</a>ScienceCernHiggs bosonParticle physicsPhysicsSat, 22 Nov 2014 15:20:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/nov/22/sizing-up-a-new-particle-accelerator-and-the-cosmic-stupid-limitPhotograph: Wimox/WikimediaReplica of Ernest Lawrence’s first cylcotron, on exhibition in the CERN Globe of Innovation. Like the original, it is only a few centimetres acrossPhotograph: Wimox/WikimediaReplica of Ernest Lawrence’s first cylcotron, on exhibition in the CERN Globe of Innovation. Like the original, it is only a few centimetres acrossJon Butterworth2014-11-22T15:20:08ZFabiola Gianotti:
woman with the key to the secrets of the universe | Observer profilehttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/nov/09/fabiola-gianotti-new-director-general-cern
From 2016, the Cern project will have its first female director, as much influenced by the arts as science. Despite the discovery of the Higgs boson, she relishes the many more frontiers to conquer<p>This year’s a<a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2014/04/cern-switch-comic-sans" title="">nnouncement that future documents published by Cern, the world’s greatest particle physics laboratory, would appear in Comic Sans</a>, a much-derided typeface designed for children, was unexpected. Using a type created for comic books to unveil complex scientific discoveries seemed akin to publishing papal decrees on Post-it notes.</p><p>Yet the edict came with the imprimatur of Fabiola Gianotti, one of the Geneva-based particle physics laboratory’s most distinguished scientists. The 52-year-old physicist, it transpired, had a fondness for the jaunty script,although it is loathed by publishers, journalists and typographers. Gianotti even uses it in slides for her presentations, including one in which she revealed, in 2012, that she and her colleagues at Cern had discovered the Higgs boson.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/nov/09/fabiola-gianotti-new-director-general-cern">Continue reading...</a>CernPhysicsScienceUK newsSun, 09 Nov 2014 00:05:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/nov/09/fabiola-gianotti-new-director-general-cernPhotograph: AGF s.r.l./REXCalm under pressure: Gianotti is likely to need every atom of her legendary cool when she takes charge in 2016.Photograph: AGF s.r.l./REXCalm under pressure: Gianotti is likely to need every atom of her legendary cool when she takes charge in 2016.Robin McKie2014-11-09T00:05:32ZRoyal Society Winton Prize for Science Books - podcasthttp://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2014/nov/07/cern-royal-society-science-book-prize
Which is the best popular science book of the year? Robin McKie and Nicky Clayton discuss the six shortlisted. Plus, Rosetta's moment in space and Cern gets its new leader <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2014/nov/07/cern-royal-society-science-book-prize">Continue reading...</a>ScienceCernRoyal Society Winton Prize for Science BooksRosetta space probeSpaceRoyal SocietyScience and natureBooksFri, 07 Nov 2014 16:26:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2014/nov/07/cern-royal-society-science-book-prizeRoyal SocietyShortlisted books for Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books. Photograph: Royal SocietyPresented by Ian Sample and produced by Iain Chambers2014-11-07T16:26:00ZFabiola Gianotti to lead Cern particle physics research centrehttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/04/italian-physicist-fabiola-gianotti-cern-centre
Italian physicist won worldwide attention in 2012 for her leading role in Cern’s discovery of Higgs boson particle<p>The Italian physicist Fabiola Gianotti has been chosen to lead the Cern particle physics research centre, the first woman to be put in charge of a top global scientific institution in the field.</p><p>Gianotti, who attracted worldwide attention in 2012 for her <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/dec/25/higgs-boson-discovery-extraordinarily-tense" title="">leading role in Cern’s discovery of the Higgs boson particle</a>, will take up the post in January 2016 as scientists aim to make further discoveries about the origin and makeup of the universe.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/04/italian-physicist-fabiola-gianotti-cern-centre">Continue reading...</a>CernParticle physicsPhysicsScienceHiggs bosonWorld newsTue, 04 Nov 2014 16:12:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/04/italian-physicist-fabiola-gianotti-cern-centrePhotograph: AGF s.r.l./REX/AGF s.r.l./REXGianotti will replace Rolf Heuer, who led Cern through the troubled launch of the Large Hadron Collider, in January 2016. Photograph: AGF/RexPhotograph: AGF s.r.l./REX/AGF s.r.l./REXGianotti will replace Rolf Heuer, who led Cern through the troubled launch of the Large Hadron Collider, in January 2016. Photograph: AGF/RexReuters in Geneva2014-11-04T16:12:00ZCERN chooses its next Director General | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physicshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/nov/04/cern-chooses-its-next-director-general
<p>Italian physicist Dr Fabiola Gianotti selected by Cern council as the organisation’s next director general </p><p>This morning Cern council selected Fabiola Gianotti as the organisation’s next director general. The appointment will be formalised at the December session of council, and Dr Gianotti’s mandate will begin on 1 January 2016 and run for a period of five years. <br /></p><p>The decision was made rather quickly. Or, as the press release puts it: “Council rapidly converged in favour of Dr Gianotti.” I don’t usually draw so heavily on <a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press-releases/2014/11/cern-council-selects-next-director-general">press releases</a> but I was in council and helped write this one, so I think it’s excusable. So here goes (with a few tweaks of my own, of course):<br /></p><p>We were extremely impressed with all three candidates put forward by the search committee </p><p>Fabiola Gianotti is an excellent choice to be my successor. It has been a pleasure to work with her for many years. I look forward to continuing to work with her through the transition year of 2015, and am confident that Cern will be in very good hands.</p><p>It is a great honour and responsibility for me to be selected as the next Cern director general following 15 outstanding predecessors. Cern is a centre of scientific excellence, and a source of pride and inspiration for physicists from all over the world. Cern is also a cradle for technology and innovation, a fount of knowledge and education, and a shining, concrete example of worldwide scientific cooperation and peace. It is the combination of these four assets that renders Cern so unique, a place that makes better scientists and better people. I will fully engage myself to maintain Cern’s excellence in all its attributes, with the help of everybody, including Cern council, staff and users from all over the world.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/nov/04/cern-chooses-its-next-director-general">Continue reading...</a>CernScienceParticle physicsPhysicsTue, 04 Nov 2014 12:27:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/nov/04/cern-chooses-its-next-director-generalPhotograph: Jon ButterworthCern council just after the decision.Photograph: Jon ButterworthCern council just after the decision.Photograph: Claudio Pasqua/WikimediaFabiola, the next head of Cern.Photograph: Claudio Pasqua/WikimediaFabiola, the next head of Cern.Guardian Staff2014-11-04T12:27:05ZMysteries of the universe: Cern's astonishing unseen archive – in pictureshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2014/oct/29/mysteries-of-the-universe-cerns-astonishing-unseen-archive-in-pictures
<p>The Geneva-based laboratory for particle physics has released a vast archive of photographs dating back to the mid-1950s. The problem is that many of them have no captions – so scientists at Cern are asking the public for help</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2014/oct/29/mysteries-of-the-universe-cerns-astonishing-unseen-archive-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>PhotographyCernScienceParticle physicsHistory of sciencePhysicsWed, 29 Oct 2014 16:57:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2014/oct/29/mysteries-of-the-universe-cerns-astonishing-unseen-archive-in-picturesPhotograph: CernPhotograph from Cern archivePhotograph: CernPhotograph from Cern archiveLeo Benedictus2014-10-29T16:57:40ZIf the Large Hadron Collider made music, what would it sound like?http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/30/large-hadron-collider-music-cern
<p>Seven physicists found out, by turning data from CERN’s experiments in to songs, then playing them in situ</p><p>Helping scientists to discover the Higgs boson was, it seems, just one of the Large Hadron Collider’s talents. It turns out that CERN’s particle accelerator can write a decent tune too.</p><p>Seven physicists from the facility have proved it by translating data collected by the Large Hadron Collider’s four experiments – ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb – into music using “data sonification” technology.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/30/large-hadron-collider-music-cern">Continue reading...</a>Digital music and audioCernTechnologyScienceMusicCultureParticle physicsPhysicsTue, 30 Sep 2014 10:16:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/30/large-hadron-collider-music-cernPhotograph: PRThe Large Hadron Collider, still from Particle Fever.Photograph: PRThe Large Hadron Collider, still from Particle Fever.Stuart Dredge2014-09-30T10:16:40ZEmma Watson, Beckham and DiCaprio, the week of the global dev celebhttp://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/sep/26/emma-watson-victoria-beckham-leonardo-dicaprio-global-development-celebrities
<p><strong>World in a week, 22-26 September: </strong>Catch up with all the development-related news you may have missed this week</p><p><strong>Alain Nteff, </strong>founder of <a href="http://www.giftedmom.org/">Gifted Mom</a>, an e-content platform for pregnant women in underserved areas, who has won <a href="http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/west-africans-shine-at-2014-anzisha-prize-gala-awards/43609/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:+HowWeMadeItInAfrica+%28How+We+Made+It+In+Africa%29">the Anzisha prize.</a></p><p>My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. And we need more of those.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/sep/26/emma-watson-victoria-beckham-leonardo-dicaprio-global-development-celebrities">Continue reading...</a>Global development professionals networkVictoria BeckhamQatarNigeriaEmma WatsonHillary ClintonUS newsCanadaEl SalvadorAbortionChinaLiberiaCernEducationBrazilFri, 26 Sep 2014 18:22:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/sep/26/emma-watson-victoria-beckham-leonardo-dicaprio-global-development-celebritiesPhotograph: Imago / Barcroft MediaVictoria Beckham, the new face of UNAids.Photograph: Imago / Barcroft MediaVictoria Beckham, the new face of UNAids.Rachel Banning-Lover and Eliza Anyangwe2014-09-26T18:22:08ZAmbulance-chasing Large Hadron Collider collisions | Ben Allanach | Life & Physicshttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/sep/17/ambulance-chasing-large-hadron-collider-collisions
<p><strong>Ben Allanach</strong> on the impure fun of rapid-response physics<br></p><p> “Ambulance chasing” refers to the morally dubious practice of lawyers chasing down accident victims in order to help them sue. In a people physics context, when some recent data disagrees with the Standard Model of particle physics and researchers come up with an interpretation in terms of new physics, they are called ambulance chasers too. This is probably because some view the practice as a little glory-grabbing and somehow impure: you’re not solving problems purely using your mind (you’re using data as well), and even worse that that, you’ve had to be quick or other researchers might have been able produce something similar before you. It’s not that the complainers get really upset, more that they can be a bit sniffy (and others are just taking the piss in a fun way). I’ve been ambulance chasing some data just recently with collaborators, and we’ve been having a great time. These projects are short, snappy and intense. You work long hours for a short period, playing ping-pong with the draft in the final stages while you quickly write the work up as a short scientific paper. </p><p> A couple of weeks ago, the <a href="http://cms.web.cern.ch/">CMS experiment</a> released an <a href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/1751493">analysis of some data</a> that piqued our interest because it had a small disagreement with Standard Model predictions. In order to look for interesting effects, CMS sieved the data in the following way: they required either an electron and an anti-electron or a muon and an anti-muon. Electrons and muons are called `leptons’ collectively They also required two jets (sprays of strongly interacting particles) and some apparent missing energy. We’ve known for years that maybe you could find supersymmetry with this kind of sieving. The jets and leptons could come from the production of supersymmetric particles which decay into them and a supersymmetric dark matter particle. So if you find too many of these type of collisions compared to Standard Model predictions, it could be due to supersymmetric particle production. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/sep/17/ambulance-chasing-large-hadron-collider-collisions">Continue reading...</a>Particle physicsSciencePhysicsCernWed, 17 Sep 2014 06:01:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/sep/17/ambulance-chasing-large-hadron-collider-collisionsPhotograph: MACIEJ NOSKOWSKI/Getty ImagesSpeed is importantPhotograph: MACIEJ NOSKOWSKI/Getty ImagesSpeed is importantBen Allanach2014-09-17T06:01:05Z